41 members of the crew died in the cold water as the submarine sank to a depth of 1,680 meters. This week, Norwegian research ship “G. O. Sars”, sailing for the Marine Research Institute, is at the site with a deep diving remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV).

“Komsomolets” has one nuclear reactor and two torpedoes tipped with plutonium warheads. Each of the warheads contains about 3 kilograms of plutonium-239, in diameter about the size of a tennis ball.

With a half-life of 24,000 years, the plutonium poses a treat, although experts say the chances of reaching the food chain is highly limited as there are very little marine life at the depth of the submarine wreak.

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In the early 1990s and in 2007, Russian scientists measured small radioactive leakages at “Komsomolets”, including the isotope Cesium-137 from a pipe near the reactor compartment.

Later, Norwegian expeditions to the site has not measured any radioactivity, but unlike the Russian expeditions in the early 1990s which went down with a MIR mini-sub, the Norwegians have not been down deep with a submarine.